FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 4/12/22

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy basketball is very reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

If you survived Sunday's injury report that read like War and Peace, welcome to daily fantasy basketball nirvana.

Tuesday's injury report is short and sweet, and it's because these games matter. It starts with the play-in tournament through Friday, and that will decide the final two seeds in each conference. Players are going to try and actually play from here forward. Exciting!

The first game is actually a rematch from Friday. Cleveland travels to Brooklyn, but they'll still be without Jarrett Allen (finger). Allen hasn't played since March 6th.

The Nets are getting Goran Dragic (COVID-19 protocols) back in a limited role, and Seth Curry (ankle) is in rough shape to where he's unlikely to play heavy minutes.

In the nightcap, Minnesota will host the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Wolves are at full health. L.A. has Luke Kennard (hamstring) on the injury report, but their starters are all off the injury report outside of Kawhi Leonard.

Guards

Kyrie Irving ($10,200): While most starters will get a bump in minutes (and therefore, production), Irving's already been operating at full steam. He's played at least 39 minutes in eight straight for the Nets, so he won't get that bump. Still, Irving (29.0% usage rate since March 1st) has a very similar role to Kevin Durant (31.6%) offensively at a lower salary, and there are many more alternatives at forward. By default, Kyrie is the top guard on the slate.

Patrick Beverley ($5,500): Minnesota's rotation is one that desperately needs to be thinned out, but one of the beneficiaries should be the defensive stalwart, Beverley. This is a revenge game for the former Clipper, but he's also just had the best fantasy season of his career, averaging 1.02 FanDuel points per minute. That production in a full-time role would smash value at this salary, and he'll likely get one as the Wolves shave minutes from Jordan McLaughlin.

Others to Consider:
Reggie Jackson ($5,700): Blowouts have hurt his production more than Paul George's return. Still a healthy 26.8% usage rate since then.
Patty Mills ($3,700): With Curry hobbled, Mills could see 30-plus minutes. He could also do absolutely nothing with them.

Wings

Paul George ($9,600): Because of minutes restrictions and blowouts, the NBA world may not know how great PG13 has been since returning. He's averaged 1.51 FanDuel points per minute -- more than Kevin Durant -- since returning from injury on March 29th. George has a team-best 32.5% usage rate, but he's also added at least four assists and two blocks plus steals in every contest. At this salary, he's the clear top star of the slate, personally.

Caris LeVert ($5,400): Since LeVert entered the starting lineup on March 26th, he's put in yeoman's work to post 0.90 FanDuel points per minute in a full-time role. Yet, his salary hasn't really budged from this mark despite eclipsing 27 FanDuel points in six of the nine games. His 22.9% usage rate -- second to Darius Garland on the Cavs -- is still a solid scoring role at a much lower salary than his backcourt mate.

Others to Consider:
Lauri Markkanen ($5,900): With no Allen, Markkanen should see heavy minutes at the four or the three if Cleveland opts for Kevin Love over Isaac Okoro.
Marcus Morris ($5,100): The Clippers have blown out six of their last seven foes. Their starters' salaries are all way too low entering a spot where they'll see maximum minutes.

Bigs

Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,700): In addition to George, Towns is the other half of the must-have mini-stack on this slate. Los Angeles' critical weakness in size, and in April, they were still the third-worst team in defensive rebounding rate (68.6%) despite improved play from Ivica Zubac. Towns has yet to eclipse 50 FanDuel points against the Clippers this season due to lopsided outcomes, but he profiles to be the daunting double-double threat that can exploit L.A.

Evan Mobley ($7,800): With Jarrett Allen likely out, Mobley is the clear standout in a desolate $7,000 range. He's averaged 1.08 FanDuel points per minute since Allen went down in March, and the defensive-minded rookie should see over 40 minutes with Cleveland needing a win to advance. For the whole season, it was the Nets -- not the Clippers -- that held the worst overall defensive rebounding rate (70.4%). This two-game slate feature two great matchups for bigs.

Others to Consider:
Andre Drummond ($7,100): He's averaged 1.34 FanDuel points per minute in April. Huge value if he sees a minutes boost in the playoffs. Massive "if," though.
Jarred Vanderbilt ($4,500): A low-salaried way to attack the same matchup as Towns. Unfortunately, it's 50-50 whether he or Jaden McDaniels gets the crunch-time minutes.